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Sunday, November 13, 2016

"Lines Written after a Snow-storm" by Clement C. Moore, reprinted in 1824 from the Troy Sentinel

Clement C. Moore's classic poem A Visit from St. Nicholas aka The Night Before Christmas was first published anonymously in the Troy Sentinel, on December 23, 1823. Everyone knows that, but here's a melvilliana exclusive to deck your holiday halls with. Only a few months later (definitely before March 2, 1824) another unsigned poem by Clement C. Moore also appeared in the Troy Sentinel. Of course, this one never spread as rapidly or widely as "A Visit from St. Nicholas" did. Nevertheless, it was noticed and reprinted in at least one other newspaper. I have not yet located the original Troy Sentinel printing [Update: found! in the Troy Sentinel, February 20, 1824] but here is the version reprinted "FROM THE TROY SENTINEL" in the Providence, Rhode-Island American on Tuesday, March 2, 1824. Found in the online Newspaper Archives at Genealogy Bank.

[Providence] Rhode-Island American - March 2, 1824

Like "A Visit from St. Nicholas," this poem was reprinted with minor revisions and corrections in Moore's 1844 volume of Poems, under the title Lines Written after a Snow-Storm. The table of contents there gives the title as "Lines Written after a Fall of Snow."

In
1913 Arthur Inkersley associated these very "Lines" with the more
famous holiday poem, as the two works Moore then was best remembered
for:

... Mrs. MacNutt was Miss Margaret Ogden, a
granddaughter of Clement C. Moore, the scholar, poet and musician,
widely known as the author of “ 'Twas the Night Before Christmas" and
“Lines Written After a Snowstorm.” --The Overland Monthly

It makes a neat companion piece with "The Night Before Christmas." As pointed out in our last, Moore addresses his meditative "Lines Written after a Snow Storm" to his kids. And as Stephen Nissenbaum aptly remarks, the poem